Bouteille à anses tubulaires (guan er ping 管耳瓶)

Anonyme

Entre 1127 et 1279
Bronze, Fonte à la cire perdue
Legs : Cernuschi, Henri

M.C. 2362

The rather similar shape of these two bottles is commonly found in celadon, for example, but is rare in bronze, except in larger-sized vessels, as is the case of several in Japan, including the famous Seigaha vase (H. 25.6 cm) and another used in Japan as a flower vase (H. 27.6 cm; Nezu Museum, Tokyo). In China, this type of vase – primarily the small versions such as these – was used to contain utensils for incense, such as the chopsticks and spatula.
The foot of the bottle on the right features a wave design characteristic of certain Song ceramics. The right-hand bottle has a decoration of phoenixes on the waves and animal heads, which is found on a vase with an inscription dating it to the second half of the 12th century (Victoria and Albert Museum, London). A kind of animal mask motif, also very common around this time, appears in a band on this vase. This motif is very different to the ancient taotie from which it derives, no doubt because it was copied from a print; it adorns a vase from the imperial collections, the Zhou pan long zun 周蟠龙尊, illustrated in the Xiqing gu jian (Catalogue of antiquities in the Xiqing Pavilion, vol. XI, pl. I). It was considered in the 18th century as a Zhou dynasty bronze, but this vase is, in its form and decoration, typical of the Southern Song period (1127-1279).

Reference(s) : Michel Maucuer, Bronzes de la Chine impériale des Song au Qing, Paris Musées, 2013, p. 132-133